Leaders of Pakistan's ruling coalition met Tuesday to discuss a replacement for President Pervez Musharraf and begin tackling both rising Islamic militancy and a spiralling economic crisis.

Musharraf's televised announcement on Monday that he would bow out to avoid impeachment charges after nine years in power has thrown the onus on the coalition to deal with the nuclear-armed nation's growing problems.

His own fate also hangs in the balance, amid speculation that he may still leave the country despite reports of a deal brokered by Pakistan's powerful military and the United States for him to avoid criminal charges.

"The leaders will discuss the post-Musharraf resignation issues, including the election to the presidency," said Farhatullah Babar, a spokesman for the party of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto, which leads the coalition.

Local television showed Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister overthrown by Musharraf in a 1999 coup, meeting with Bhutto's widower Asif Ali Zardari and son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in Islamabad.

Senate chairman Mohammedmian Soomro, a one-time ally of Musharraf, took over as acting president on Monday and will hold the office until the election of a new head of state.

"The election of a new president must take place within 30 days of the post being vacated," election commission spokesman Kanwar Dilshad told AFP.

Officials say the coalition is considering a candidate from one of Pakistan's smaller provinces, including Mehmud Khan Achakzai from southwestern Baluchistan province, and Aftab Shoban Mirani from southern Sindh province.

It could also opt for a female candidate including the speaker of the national assembly, or lower house of parliament, Fehmida Mirza, or Zardari's sister Faryal Talpur, the officials added.

Meanwhile Sharif said he would push the coalition to restore dozens of judges sacked by Musharraf during a state of emergency in November in order to push through his re-election, he said.

The issue has divided the coalition since they first pledged to reinstate them in May.

"I think the judges should be restored either today or tomorrow," Sharif told reporters before leaving to meet Zardari. "It is an issue as important as Musharraf's resignation."

Law minister Farooq Naik said the judges' issue "is likely to be resolved today."

Pakistani newspapers on Tuesday hailed Musharraf's departure -- the Daily Times headline screamed "Going, Going, Gone" -- but warned that the government must act fast to tackle Pakistan's problems.

"What is incontestable is that the country must move on from this crisis quickly," said an editorial in Dawn, the country's oldest English-language newspaper.

That could be difficult with Musharraf still in the country.

Officials from both the ruling coalition and the security services said Musharraf would travel to close ally Saudi Arabia in coming days to perform Muslim rites.

A senior coalition official told AFP that Musharraf would then head for London or Turkey, but his aides insisted he would return after his religious duties in the Gulf kingdom.

In Riyadh, the Saudi ambassdor to Pakistan was quoted as saying that reports the kingdom had a plane waiting in Islamabad to take Musharraf were "baseless claims" and "media lies".

"Saudi Arabia has been and continues to look out for the security, stability and sovereignty of Pakistan and will not interfere in its internal affairs," he was quoted as saying by the Okaz newspaper.

Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief was in Pakistan at the weekend for talks with the government over the political crisis here.

Musharraf's decision to quit came after the coalition said it was ready to press ahead with impeachment as early as Tuesday on charges that reportedly included violating the constitution.

His troubles began last year after his initial attempt to sack the judges sparked mass protests. He declared a state of emergency in November and then was compelled to quit as army chief within weeks.

He was also backed into a corner by the resurgence of Islamic militants in the tribal areas along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, who launched a massive wave of attacks last year that left more than 1,000 dead.

In the latest violence, a bomb blast at a hospital in the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan killed at least 23 people, police said.